Chuchuu~ All abroad this nostalgic train drawn by our very own Foshy! For some time, we have made a habit of saluting the time gone by and in Metanorn’s case, the season gone by. It’s always relaxing to look back and dote on the shows that we came to love episode after episode. Some were okay, good, brilliant and simply amazing. So, read on for Metanorn Team’s individual and overall take on the shows that finished airing in Summer 2011.

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Well summer sure did pass quite fast! I know I don’t mind seeing summer leave us because Florida summers are always so freaking hot all the time! This season brought us a few amazing shows to stare at weekly and drool over the fancy artwork and colors, and of course like any new season of anime it brought us plenty of failed series to face-palm at for watching. The one thing I shall miss the most about summer? The end of Nichijou! Damn I will miss that hilarious series, anyway it’s time to see what the others enjoyed from this season enjoy.

:// mawaru-penguindrum I remember seeing this anime on that huge summer list and thought that title was dumb, no one had any idea what this series was even going to be about! All we had to go on was a picture and a random trailer. But wow! I have to say I have to be careful and actually check some of the strange titled shows out, anyway so far we are up to only ten episodes but I found myself really addicted to the amazing artwork! I love all those character designs even the penguins are fun to look at. Course we have some Shaft people working behind the scenes on certain episodes giving us some amazing visuals like always, but overall penguindrum delivers a great addictive story and mystery. Favorite character so far Kanba! That guy is awesome, and yes we learn he has a strange thing for his sister but we really don’t know much about that. Anyway I really hope Mawaru Penguindrum can continue to keep me addicted every week!

:// mayo-chiki This series was originally on my skip list after reading the plot, but after watching the first two episodes something about it changed and suddenly I became quite addicted to it! Well this series is filled with some of the most interesting characters like Kanade, Kureha, Nakuru, Usami and Subaru. But personally I always like to watch Kanade be her usual sneaky self around Jirou! But eventually everything comes down to Kanade using Subaru’s butler skills to do something random to Jirou resulting in some over the top comedy events or the usual fan service scenes both types always make me laugh! That’s the one thing about this series I enjoy the most, just busting out laughing over the crazy scenes. Anyway I do like the romance elements even thou this anime does lack in that department. Well I am happy I got to Blog Mayo Chiki! And thanks to Kara for tagging along on this!

:// yuri-yuri This anime came out of no where for me! First off the title really kept me from actually watching it because I usually pass on Yuri themed anime. But I am really glad I checked that series out! Because it was sooooo freaking hilarious, and that opening song? After hearing it once I quickly found myself hitting repeat just to hear it over and over again. And yes this series does in fact have a bit of yuri but it’s all done in a comical way! especially after we are introduced to Chitose. This girl I swear always had her mind in the gutter, she often had these random day dreams about two classmates Kyouko and Ayano. In these day dreams you always had the two doing something sexual with each other, and Chitose gets so many random nosebleeds through this short series just thinking about those to girls messing around. My favorite character to watch during this? Akarin of course! I love all those moments when Akarin has to open each episode with something random always happening to her all the time and eventually gains the title girl with no presence! Poor girl…

I’ve started to forget the seasons. I think it was Summer last. If it was, then Summer was a strange month. I mean season. I started quite a few shows, enjoyed them, but then halfway through, a new Internet law passed in New Zealand, meaning that pretty much everything I do on the Internet became illegal overnight. Shows were forgotten. Shows were buried. But some were still there. And these are those shows.

:// kamisama-dolls This show, guys. It wasn’t perfect, but no show is. The fact that these guys managed to take a rather old anime style and use some crazy witchcraft to make it badass, deserves some praise. It just genuinely surprised me at so many points. I though Aki would just be a run-of-the-mill asshole bad guy. By the end of the series I was actually wanting him to show up more, and didn’t feel like he was a bad person at all. Kyohei wasn’t a useless main character and actually got shit done, Utao wasn’t an annoying little sister and the love interested actually went somewhere? What else could it do right? Oh yeah, the giant flying dolls that are like Gods and spout out awesome music when they become mobile. Anything else? Just the fact that Kyohei, the dude who doesn’t do anything with a Kakashi all season because of the past, is actually an absolute badass who obliterated Amaterasu is enough to make me go ‘Ooooooooh’. I’m looking forward to a sequel just as much as I love KFC. I freakin’ love KFC. (Also, spoilers above).

:// usagi-drop This would’ve been number one, if it weren’t for the fact that Kamisama Dolls was just badass. I’ve admitted quite a lot that in ten of the eleven Usagi Drop episodes, I shed a few tears. The only episode I didn’t start the waterworks was the last, and that’s because I wasn’t really satisfied with the ending, thinking it was a little too abrupt. I wanted a second season. But I heard everyone going ‘The second half is absolute tosh, I’m glad they ended it there.’ Well, after actually reading all of Usagi Drop in two days, I agree with them. Kind of. But this is about the anime. I just thought it was so incredibly sweet. It wasn’t the kind of show that made me want to go out and have a child (I don’t think any woman on earth would allow me to do that), but it made me think how much of a crap child I was. I wasn’t as well behaved as Rin. I was a terror of a Maori.

:// nichijou It ended a few weeks back. I was depressed for the next few days. What would I do without Nichijou in my life? For those of you who haven’t watched it, I really urge you to. I will admit, it can be a little hit and miss at times. There have been episodes where I have barely moved a muscle, and then others where my muscles locked up from laughing so much, that I had to be taken to hospital. Those who have watches the show will no doubt understand Nichijou and their amazing skits. The Broccoli. Chan-Mio. Pumpkin. Igo Soccer. The Shrine Skit, and the anomaly that is Yukko. Haters gonna hate, but Kyo Ani have a way with making me laugh. I’m really looking forward to whatever they’re doing next.

Summer is becoming a much better season for anime than the days of old. Brains Base went balls out with 3 series this year and the noitaminA block continued a great streak with its yin/yang combo, and there also were a number of great series that carried over from Spring.

:// mawaru-penguindrum I’ve been really impressed with Penguindrum, enough so to check out Ikuhara’s previous series Utena (which I also recommend). The animation and art are impressive not just in the way we all praise a show that has good animation, but in the way scenes are directed; there have been so many moments that stand out in how they are shot (examples include Ringo falling down at the party and Tabuki acting like a frog). All of the characters are interesting and each of them has flaws that are really interesting to explore, there are so many different concepts and themes introduced during the show’s early stage, and the OST is one of my most anticipated. Penguindrum is already at the top of my list for best of 2011.

:// usagi-drop The feel good anime of the season! Knowing that Production I.G. was involved, I knew that Bunny Drop would be a really sweet show, and it did not fail in meeting expectations. Rin and Daikichi were really enjoyable to watch together and it was nice to see their bits of development as you see Daikichi growing as a father figure to her. How the show handled Daikichi was great; nothing about his character was frustrating and you could always feel for the guy and understand his actions. The production with splendid artistic direction and a good soundtrack only added to the enjoyment of Thursdays with noitaminA. I also really love how the anime was able to pull off an ending that wasn’t really conclusive, but still satisfying. People will want more, but not because Usagi Drop left on a big cliffhanger or right in the middle of things; simply because it was a fine show.

:// no[6] I came into the series expecting this really intriguing tale of a corrupt society and two guys who aim to bring it down; little did I know that there would be such strong character development between Shion and Nezumi, enough so for me to call it the most rewarding quality of the series. Their relationship certainly has an atypicality about it, especially considering Shion and his really unusual personality, but it kept me interested each step of the way. The first episode initially didn’t impress me, but now thinking of it as a prologue to events of the series, I find much greater value in it as a setup for how Shion and Nezumi grew closer to each other. How the show ended is perhaps a little jampacked and I’m left to wonder what cuts from the light novel the anime took, but nonetheless it was an awesome watch as No. 6 was broken down. Though BONES may take heat for the ending, they did the usual awesome job on animation.

One week, Dolls is excellent and can stand as one of the best, other weeks it’s frustrating to watch the poor execution of the comedy.

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Summer season, I love you. You were full of great new shows, and a whole bunch of awesome shows continuing onwards from the spring season. There was so much to try and keep track of, it wasn’t long before I fell dreadfully behind on everything aside from what I was blogging. Thank goodness for those rainy afternoons where I can just sit and marathon everything.

:// tiger[&]bunny It’s no big surprise that I’m still hopelessly in love with this show. The second half especially brought a whole new flavour to the series, throwing in some impressive drama amongst all the cheese. Of course, just when it seemed that Sunrise was taking some impressive risks, they backpedalled like mad in the finale in order to open doors for a season 2. I’m still sore about the finale, but I won’t let that ruin all the good times I had watching this show. I became so close to these characters that every time they so much as shed a tear, I wanted to cry too. Tiger & Bunny just excels in wrapping you up in its charm and refusing to let go. It’s not long before you realize you’re obsessed. Part of that obsession may be from all the lovely BL hints between Kotetsu and Barnaby though.Those two make great partners/lovers/friends and I probably spent wayyyy too much time fawning over their development together.

:// steins[;]gate Oh look, Steins;Gate is still on my list too! Are you bored yet? I’m not lazy, I really did enjoy Steins;Gate enough to have it rank number 2 on my favourites. The second half especially was an amazing sight to behold. It was only halfway through that Okarin really got down to business. All the characters only really started to get close to each other once the double digit episodes began. Especially Kurisu and Okarin, who have the most elegantly portrayed relationship in the entire show.There aren’t that many time travel anime out there from what I can tell, but it’s nice that all the ones I’ve seen have been excellent. Steins;Gate is not just about crazy time travel either. It’s got drama, romance, suspense and all kinds of twists that make your heart jump into your throat. It’s a wonderfully told story that really kept me holding out for the next episode each week, so it has earned the #2 spot most nobly.

:// usagi-drop The world is ending, for Overcooled has chosen the cutest, fluffiest ray of sunshine to put in her 3rd slot for Summer picks. I generally dislike shows that are too sugary, but this was a pleasant exception. I actually like kids(?!) since I teach karate at the dojo, so seeing a really accurate portrayal of how a child acts and what I can assume parenting is like was appreciated. Usagi Drop was subtle and laid-back, yet masterfully executed. It’s a powerful show, but it doesn’t shove drama down your throat. If anything, it’s actually quite a bit like Yotsubah if you take the crazy down from 11 to around 3. I was skeptical at first, but I really got into it. Heck, even my mom loved it. It’s one of those great, family anime that just makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. The only gripe I have is that it ended far too soon. I’ve heard nothing but bad things about the manga ending, but I still wish I could have watched Rin, Daikichi and Kouki just a litttttle bit longer. It’s like they’re part of my family now.

Goodbye Summer, hello Fall~! Though, it’s just as hot in Fall as it is in Summer, so I hate it just as much. Anyways, enough of my usual complaints of So Cal weather, I have to admit Summer season was very bleah for me. I’m not sure whether it was my laziness or tumblr addiction that got me to follow only 2 (outstanding) summer shows. Maybe I’m just becoming a bit more pickier as my time is more limited than ever as I adhere to my college duties…and tumblr addiction (IT’S ALWAYS YOUR FAULT TUMBLR).

:// mawaru-penguindrum Good God, this show…this has brought me more stress than starting college, especially when they dragged on the outcome of Shouma’s car accident (Okay, I’m over exaggerating here, but still!). I’m always looking for something completely different in anime, so when Penguindrum came around, I knew I would love it. It quickly grabbed me with its quirkiness, both from the characters and story, and nail biting mystery behind the Penguindrum they are to obtain. The mix of seriousness and quirkiness is one of my favorite elements. They don’t kill the serious parts with too much comedy, and vice-versa; it’s mixed quite well. For me, Penguindrum is like a really complicated puzzle where you have to search for the tiny clues in the settings and dialogue that are so skillfully and artistically hidden. While I may not always catch all of them at first glance, the excitement of actually finding one and seeing how it fits into the story’s dark and complicated puzzle is one of the main reasons why I keep coming back every with my stomach already queasy with excitement~.

:// ao-no-exorcist While Exorcist did have quite the boring and ridiculously awful lull in the middle of the season, it certainly came back with an epic BANG as it started its concluding arc filled with WTF-THAT-DID-NOT-JUST-HAPPEN plots twists. Every episode I’m screaming about something in the show, literally. I just…I can’t describe to you in text how much I’ve grown to love this show, even if I did bring it to my 2nd place spot. For sure tag-teaming with the awesome gif makers/Jun lover Hime has made it ten more enjoyable and fun (I’ll definitely be missing her when Exorcist ends ;~;). I’ve always loved this series from the one-shot it was based on to the kick-ass anime it is now. What I will do with my life once Exorcist is over, I have no idea…

:// usagi-drop THIS DOESN’T MEAN I DON’T LOVE IT OKAY. It only got knocked down a few places because while I love this to pieces, there were some episodes that were a bit boring for me. Anyways, you guys don’t even know how much I cried while watching this series. I don’t even know, I cried so much, but that only shows how much it got to me, and how much I fell for this series. Usagi Drop definitely tugged at the heartstrings both for people like me, who could relate to the single-parent situation, and all sorts of people. It just melted the heart seeing Daikichi’s sacrifices for Rin and his growing affection, and devotion, towards her. Rin and Kouki were, and I know I’ve said this a million times, SO ADORABLE. You can’t deny they’re probably one of the cutest kids in anime. All in all, one cute and fantastic show that should definitely be watched, no matter how old you are~.

honorable-mentions:// None because I’m a lazy eighteen year old who only watched two shows this past season…

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I tend to have a bit of a bipolar attitude towards the summer season; some years it’s unforgettable and others it’s just down right awful. This year, however, there were some gems and some great hold-overs from Spring as well. I think as long as you have at least one show that can make you fall head over heels for it and that you genuinely can’t wait to see every week then any season can be considered a success.

:// ao-no-exorcist I think this was on my top list for Spring too? Oh well, lol. While it did suffer from a particularly nasty mid-season lull, AnE remains that show for me. The one that had me wearing my cuticles down to the bone waiting for the next episode, jumping out of my seat at the sheer WTF-ness of A-1’s anime original ending, and hopelessly fangirling over the sexiness of Yukio. (Oh, Jun, WHY YOU SO PURRRFECT?) I won’t lie, when it’s bad it’s really bad, but when it’s good then it becomes one of the most enjoyable anime experiences I’ve had in a long time. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed tag-teaming it with Hoshi. I’m really going to miss our fangirl musings, and I mirror her thoughts; HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GO ON!? *sobs* It was just that good. It knew how to have fun while still having weight behind what was happening, Demon!Yukio was batshit insane and hilariously over the top, but they could still pull it back and play it for some really effective little emotions. Like [C] there is a void now that AnE is finished; it just hit all of the right notes for me; be it big and silly, dark and brooding or just full of that delicious, angsty Jun voice that I can’t get enough of. What more could I really ask for?

:// natsume-yuujinchou-san Ah, and so my love affair with this franchise continues. While I don’t think it outdid the near unbeatable second season, Natume’s third installment reminded me of everything I love about the character and tone of the story. Far from the usual peaceful and calming vibe of the previous two seasons, there was a lot more threat and action this time around which I think was both a good and bad thing. Good because we get to see plots with a little more on the line, and we care enough about Natsume by now to let out a squeak of horror when faced with the prospect of him being harmed. Bad because it loses that tranquility and calmness that had become a synonym of the series. The stories, however, remained as heart-wrenching beautiful as expected and always served to make my eyes well up a bit, even if I didn’t actually cry (yes, yes, heartless, I know. I came close a few times though!). What more can you say about it other than it’s a great, likeable character with a fantastic production team whose attention to atmosphere as well as impressive writing skills help make Natsume what it is, and that is just perfection.

:// kamisama-dolls I’ll admit that the thing that got me into Kamisama Dolls wasn’t the fact it was the amazing Brains Base studio, it was that the trailer was incredibly slashable, a trait that was maintained throughout. If I’m being serious, though, I think this show has a lot more to offer than first meets the eye. What it lacks in concrete plot it makes up for with some really complex and diverse characters that all play off each other in interesting ways. Much like AnE, when it was bad it was really bad but for the most part it maintained it’s high quality and every time I would sit down to watch an episode I would be effortlessly engaged. I was impressed by the soundtrack when I got my hands on it courtesy of Metanorn’s Music Digest; it was really well put together and the Doll’s songs alone are what make it so memorable, with their creepy and epic nonsense words. They reflect each character’s personalities scarily well and were used as a great tool in creating the chaotic atmosphere that sets Kamisama Dolls apart from other shows of this nature.

Because of time constraints I ended up dropping both of these or just catching odd episodes here and there. It’s a shame, but what I did see of them I loved and maybe one day I’ll finish them. Nurarihyon no Mago; season 2 was a dramatic step up from the fail that was season 1, like Penguindrum and Usagi I ended up bypassing a lot of episodes, though. Still, SEXY JUN VOICE IS SEXY. Hohohoho~

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In the haze of starting college I feel as though I lost track of all summer shows. I had to drop a couple and I wish I could have kept up with more. I stayed up to date with the good shows though! Cuz I’m an elitist like that. Summer was definitely a pretty good season though and I fell in love with a couple titles. The following shows were what I deemed to be the best.

:// mawaru-penguindrumOh my god. Is there any competition? This show is pretty much the best thing to ever happen to me. First off, the storyline is an absolutely BRILLIANT crack-trip. It’s edgy, it’s quirky, it’s bold and if you even begin to figure out where everything is going to lead to, well, you’re a bloody genius. The animation, for the most part, is absolutely gorgeous with beautiful character designs. The characters themselves are all wonderfully flawed and there’s so much more to all of them than it may initially seem. It’s all so exciting! Especially with the latest episode, I’m shocked, awed as hell and I have no clue where it’s all going. I love it. And this is coming from somebody who used to love spoilers and knowing what’s going on. Penguindrum keeps me on my toes. It’s brilliant. So brilliant. Also, Kanba’s a total hottie. That’s all I gotta say on that one. xD

:// kamisama-no-memochou This show has been a lot of fun to watch. I was a little nervous with J.C. Staff heading the production but it turns out that they can do a decent job when they put their minds to it! Perhaps my favorite part about this show was the cast of characters. It was such a big cast and they all were so quirky and delightful. Especially the Fourth. Hehe. Hnnngg. *daydreams* A-anyways, I really enjoyed the mystery aspect of the show because there was a lot of character development in the process. Especially Narumi. That kiddo grew up A LOT. You wouldn’t think that would happen to somebody after hanging out with a bunch of NEETs. I really loved Alice and her overwhelming genius as well. And I actually enjoyed her tsundere moments. She wasn’t annoying about it. Memo-chou was, for sure, a solid show.

:// usagi-drop When I first heard about Usagi Drop I really was not expecting much. I just thought it would be another one of those sappy, slice-of-life shows that would be easy to forget. Man. I was so wrong! SO wrong. This show was a massive tearjerker because everything was just so FRICKIN’ SWEET. It was so cute that it made me cry. That’s pretty rare. Rin was adorable and Daikichi was so awesome for taking her in. He’s a good father figure, no matter what he may believe. The animation and character designs were absolutely gorgeous and the storyline, though simple, was tender and adorable. Warm and fuzzy levels were off the chart and I absolutely BASKED in it.

Ikoku Meiro no Croisee, Steins;Gate is technically a Spring show but I’m mentioning it here because it was AWESOME. It’s definitely up there with Penguindrum. The same applies to Tiger&Bunny.

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Summer anime’s actually ending huh. Summer isn’t that great (as usual), but surprisingly this summer is more entertaining than the usual summer. There are couples of gems this season that really makes summer hotter in a cool way. Of course, there are some crappy ones that make summer less bright and make summer dull. But we’re not going to talk about the dull ones (yet), we’re going to talk about the gems of this summer!

:// usagi-drop Sweet, tear-jerker, heart-warming – these are the adjectives that can describe Usagi Drop perfectly. When I first saw the preview, I thought I will hurl in disgust due to its amount of fluff, both in its trailer and summary. Before I watched the episode, I thought that I would skip lots scenes because of boredom. But alas, I was wrong. I didn’t get enough of Usagi Drop every week. Twenty four minutes per episode is just not enough. I became fond of Rin because she’s just ADORABLE. Daikichi and the rest of the characters are very likeable too. I love how it focuses solely on family relationship, and only family relationship. This show is something that I’m willing to watch with my family (probably the only show that I’m willing to). There’s nothingthat I hate from Usagi Drop. I just love Usagi Drop.

:// kamisama-dollsGod, this show keeps trolling me every other week I tell you. In an episode it made me squeal in excitement, and then next week it made me feel like slapping all the characters because of the way they act. The characters are either over-dramatic or shallow or just plain weird. The hierarchy in the village is just too much for me, I kind of hate every single kakashi users in that village. They’re so spoiled like mad just because they use kakashi. And then there’s the messed up villagers. Refusing to respect Kouhei because he quits being a kakashi user? I never knew being a normal human has so little value. Ugh, I basically get annoyed with EVERYTHING in this show. So why is this in my top three? Because it trolls me. And the drama, man! THE DRAMA!

:// natsume-yuujinchou-san I’ll just probably repeat what I said in the First Impression, but whatever. Natsume is beautiful; the stories are emotional; the characters are very likeable. The setting is simple, yet it really fits the story.There’s not a single episode I don’t like, and there’s no such thing as an episode better than another episode. Each episode of Natsume are special in its own. Natsume is a series with episodic episodes, but I will never complain about it. And Natsume isn’t really episodic, since all of these youkai are connectedby Reiko and the Book of Friends. Talk about an invisible connection. Man, I just effin love Natsume. The only reason why he’s on the third is because he has more than two seasons already. And fourth season WOOT!!!

This show is such a mind troll, but that’s why we all love it. We all love the speculations, the characters, the hints (foreshadowing), the setting, the songs, and the PENGUINS! And I said “we” because I’m sure a LOT of people love this show. But not me, unfortunately. For some unknown reason I’m not that interested with Mawaru Penguindrum. And plus, I’m the type of person who enjoys anime without thinking about it.

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Summer was WAY better than I originally thought it would be. Even though I spent most of it catching up with the spring shows I fell behind on (I’ll probably catch up on summer stuff during the fall), I actually managed to keep up with quite a few shows. Or at least more than I usually do. Anyways, I enjoyed what I did watch, so overall it wasn’t a bad season!

:// blood[C] Those of you who dropped the show in the early episodes are probably looking at your computer screen in disbelief right now, but yes this was my top show of the summer. Why? Because it’s probably one of the most well thought out anime I’ve ever seen. They have an answer for everything. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but despite the beginning seeming pointless and boring, it sets up for the finale extremely well. And that ending.HOLY CRAP THAT ENDING. It was open ended, but there are SO MANY possibilities! I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited for a continuation before. Yeah, there wasn’t much character development and yeah, the first episodes were just pointless slice of life followed by monster of the week. However, I firmly believe that for spoiler free reasons that all of the ‘pointless’ stuff was actually all for creating a solid set up for the rest of the show. So yeah, the bottom line is that I think Blood-C was amazing.

:// tiger[&]bunny …I don’t know if this is even allowed to be here since was more of a spring show, but if I had watched this back in spring, this would have been my #1 pick hands down. I can’t even begin to describe the appeal of it. It’s extremely cheesy for one, and where I don’t normally like that, there’s something about the characters in this that made it SO GOOD. This show wouldn’t be the same without Kotetsu and his extreme sense of justice and normally that attitude annoys the hell out of me. Same goes with the superhero thing, I’m normally not into that (unless it’s mahou shoujo lol). However, the whole commercial part to the saving people made it interesting for me (plus it added a lot of depth to the characters, making them even more likable). This was probably the least likely thing I would enjoy looking at genre alone, but the storyline was extremely intriguing and the characters were all extremely likable (if I haven’t said this enough already). OC is absolutely right in saying that this show is incredibly charming. It really is.

:// uta-no-prince-sama[maji-love-1000%] Time to stare at the computer screen in disbelief part 2. Yes, if you weren’t aware from my posts, I absolutely adore this show. I came into it expecting nothing special, but the sparkling bishies completely drew me in. If you think about it, the entire show is ridiculous. However, that’s exactly why it was so entertaining. Hell, if we based this off of entertainment value alone, this would be my #1 pick thanks to the awesomely cheesy musical numbers (that grew on me) and wtf moments. I mean, just look at the opening. Never has poorly timed dancing been so fabulous(ly hilarious). This show was hilarious, even when it wasn’t supposed to be. However, the whole production is brought down by the plot and the way the writers completely ignored the original game. Mainly because this whole thing lacked a plot entirely. That and that harem ending. When this show stopped doing stupid things, the plot fell apart completely. I still enjoyed it immensely though.

All of these shows were excellently entertaining in their own way and if I was allowed to stick them all into third place, I would.

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I’m not sure how I felt about winter…summer…what ever, seasons are way too mainstream. On one hand, shows that continued from the spring season, plus a few summer shows amazed me. On the other hand, UtaPuri. I was in it for the eye candy, and I have no shame in admitting that. Also, I marathoned Steins;Gate in the week or so, so everything kinda just paled in compression.

:// kamisama-dolls A show that at first glace, wasn’t too much. Kinda basic art style and animation, simple premise, easy to follow story line and basic character types. But when you really look at the characters, their roles, the power balances, and how each one of them progresses, we get an amazing show. And that’s only the characters. Kamisama Dolls used it’s old school art style effectively, as well as it’s sound tracks (especially the Dolls). I adored the use of different, well placed, back stories that added depth to not only the characters but the nature of the village, and dolls and being a Seki. Despite being short, with only 12 episodes, Kamisama Dolls rose to the top for me. Character were lovable, the story was subtle but pulled you in and Kyohei was a BAMF. Looking forward to the second season like it’s Christmas!

:// natsume-yuujinchou-san As an avid fan of this show, season three was perfect. I loved how much they played on the youkai aspect this season, and suspect they’ll do more with his friends and family in the next. In particular, seeing Natsume and Mandara become closer was heartwarming (and seeing Nyanko-sensei hurt was heartbreaking). I giggled and laughed, and sighed and cried and all that good stuff. It was also great to see more of Taki and Tanuma, seeing how other’s felt about youkai, contrasting with Natsume and his grandmother. Speaking of which, it’s always great to see how his grandmother left traces behind, almost for Natsume’s sake. More of this please!

:// usagi-drop We don’t often see shows about relationships outside of romance. Even when we do, it’s all pulled off using romance as a base (case and point, OreImo). Usagi Drop, as a jousei, said NO and gave us a brilliant parenting story that felt gentle, loving and real. The art and animation really helped with this, and the amazing voice actors. The cast was perfect too, down to earth parents, excitable kids, and young care takers. The pace was what made this for me, though. Each trail of childhood is something we can relate too from our own child hood, and older viewers may even know the feeling of the parents. There’s only one problem and that’s how the manga went. For all things sacred, never read it, it literally ruins everything I said about this show in the first few lines. Don’t read it. Ever.

These all had impressive aspects to them, but what were more impressive were the shows continuing from Spring! Tiger and Bunny, Hanasaku Iroha and Nichijou would be my top three if this wasn’t summer…

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Oh summer, where have you gone? I miss you so so much and my friend the sun. But yeah, this summer has been so busy for me that really I had not time to watch anime. Thus, my choices aren’t that exciting and I cheated by choosing some OVAs. As well, yes, I didn’t finish the animes in my honorable mentions but who cares. Really now, these are just fillers so you viewers will know that I still exist aside from working behind the scenes of Metanorn. xD

:// hellsing-ultimate[8]Oh man, if you have not seen this anime or even OVAs… then you are missing out. Really now, who gives a crap about Twilight or Dance in the whatever Bund or even Vampire Knight when you have a real dark and cool depiction of how badass a vampire can be. This episode 8 was just so exciting considering where episode 7 left you hanging. What is even more cool is the hints of who Alucard is. As well, the epic battle between Anderson and Alucard was just awesome and this episode leaves you hanging! I can’t wait for the next episode to come out and we all know it’s going to probably be another year or so! /cries

:// nichijou Yeah yeah, I haven’t finished this yet but whateva~ I was blogging this with Fosh until I had to take a month or so leave from Meta stuff and I haven’t been able to catch up yet. But even so, I say this anime is good stuff! (And what other choices do I have?) I’m sad that this is over but I still have to catch up anyways. My favorite character is probably Yuuko for her epic scenes and even though she’s a bit dense, I’m sure if she tried she can do it! But I think the main school girls are all great. I’m glad that we got to see Nano go to school and the suspense of Nano’s nervousness on being found out is so awesome along with Mio’s obvious tricks in it. In general, the creators of this anime are just cool. Hey! They had Azumanga Daioh and they even pulled it off using the same character style designs. It would be awesome if these two worlds crossed over. Oh yes, I cannot forget how cool it was to hear different ending songs for almost every episode. Now that is something.

:// break-blade[6] What?! A movie series?! Yes, I am so cool that I can choose what I want within certain small parameters of what goes with the Summer shows. By now, if you have read whatever else I wrote here, you can probably tell that I’m running low on fuel that I’m writing random stuff. But anyways, I was holding off on watching this series for a while until we had that Mecha podcast episode. So I marathoned all 5 episodes and hey! It was pretty awesome. The whole setting has me in awe and the actual plot is even interesting. I was unsure about the whole concept of having magic power the mechas, but it’s cool enough and having that one person who has no magic power is typical but even better in a world dominated by magical power users. But yes, this series was definitely awesome and I’d probably watch it again.

honorable-mentions:// tiger[&]bunny // no[6] // mawaru-penguindrum

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Even if the Summer ‘season’ has gone, it still lingers on and will keep at it till November/December here. So, I seriously won’t be missing it because I’ll keep trying to be away from the sweaty humidity. Compared to last year, I was busy like a bee this season with lots of budgeting and more responsibilities but I guess, I coped with everything well. Though, I would like to steal Okabe’s time machine and complete some more important chores. ~__^

:// steins[;]gateFirst advice, don’t watch Chaos;Head; total waste of time. I highly recommend this though because it’s one those cool time travel shows that treats the genre well. If you didn’t know, I’m a time travel freak and I watched every episode with rapt attention swallowing all the theories that were thrown at me quite happily. I loved the fact how beautifully the time paradox was handled in the end. It usually is very tricky but I ended up liking the end. Even with the harem route and almost all girls and trap falling for him, the main lead was pretty apparent and though I loved Tuturu~ to death; she was more of a friend than a girlfriend to Okabe. So that I finally found youwas cheesy but somehow very appropriate. Two-cour anime really need a lot of ‘content-stickiness’ to pan viewer attention but this one had it all; thus, a well-deserved number one spot.

:// natsume-yuujinchou-san Natsume Rather than from where to begin, I should say, where should I END?! I’ve said a LOT about this series yet I will never be bore or lazy to not throw million accolades towards it. I’ve followed this series since it first started airing and even blogged it just because I love it’s tranquil and feel-good vibes. There’s not one episode that hasn’t left me deep in thought or in emotional mush. It shows different aspects of life using supernatural beings and their life experiences. Not to mention an adorable protagonist, who’s one of the kindest characters you’d come across in anime. His close friendship with Nyanko-sensei and his comic relief keeps the show fresh with the right amount of flashbacks. Who wants to know more about Reiko though? EVERYONE! But don’t sweat it, this is returning in Winter so wait and enjoy. ^^

:// kamisama-no-memochou This was a surprise and like I said on twitter, one of those titles that actually redeemed J.C. Staff in front of me for Summer season at least. I like most of the characters and still don’t understand why people hate Alice. Is it because she’s a loli or a gothic loli? Why people liked gosick in the first place then? I didn’t like it but I ended up liking this NEET detective story because it seemed fresh and there was at least meaning and enough character development with story progression. Except for the baseball episode, I liked all of ’em from the beginning arc to the last one; though, my favourite would remain to be the Yondaime one, which had enough juice to light my brain. I saw it all coming and when it did, it was quite gratifying. With that kind of end, there’s a possibility of another season so I’ll look forward to it. And oh, this has a killer OST, check it out!

Like last season, we did another team poll of our Top 5 anime that ended in Summer season and got some surprising results as depicted above. Our honourable mentions to make a top 10 includes: Ao no Exorcist, Kamisama no Memochou, No.6, Blood-C and Mayo Chiki! Compared to last time the variation was immense with many shows finished airing; same for few two-cours as well. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this post and from below let us know your own top five and reason for choosing so. Till next time, ja ne~

I can’t believe I’ve been so sluggish on Hellsing. The farthest i got so far is episode 5. I’ve gotta catch up because I understand Seras is no longer a fledgling but a full vampire. I’m so ashamed of myself. *sobs*

That picture of Seras all vamped out is awesome. Alucard is definitely her creator and now she looks just as wild as him. You can say she’s his illegitimate daughter. I wonder what she’ll do with her new immortality from here on. Maybe create some new vampires herself.

Looking only at the summer season shows (ignoring 2-cour shows from spring), my list would be:

Usagi Drop !!! Rin is just too awesome and cute.
Rounding out my top summer three would be Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni! (lovable bakas – the Q&A in each episode were hilarious) and Mayo Chiki (guilty pleasure… Kanade’s ohime-sama dakko *swoon*).

When I’m finished with my finals I’m definitely going to start on Mawaru Penguindrum – you guys have such high praise for it. The only ones I was able to follow (due to time constraints and interest) were Blood-C, UtaPri, and the last bits of Hanasaku Iroha, so that would be my Top 3, respectively. It was a lackluster season for me (despite the fabulosity of UtaPri) but I think it might be because I didn’t get to start on Mawaru Penguindrum. Also, I’m not surprised a lot of you liked Usagi Drop – I didn’t watch the anime itself but the manga was excellent.

Comedy fan and sure a bit of Moeeeee type of series, if I can find laughter from any series it will always stand out to me. Yuru Yuri is just one of those shows you never ever expect to make you laugh and it did for me <3

That and I was reviewing Mayo Chiki at first I was bored with that but found some great characters to follow!

I had doubts about Blood-C at the beginning but we got train-wrecked by CLAMP yet again. You think we would have learned by now. I’m extremely happy getting to know the real Saya. Strong and independent. And a pretty inventive way to regain her memories, drinking blood. Overall, it was great. I can’t wait for the movie.

Mayo Chiki was my comedy for the summer. All the characters were awesome, especially that queen sadist Kanade Suzutsuki who played with everyone like her own puppets and got away with it. Jirou (an unusual cut above the typical shounen protagonist) and Subaru (she’s one excellent butler, anger her at your own risk) delivered but Kanade stole the show.

Wooooooooooooooooo my massive picture got used <3 Nice work on the graphics Ness and Kyo! Seems bunny drop was on most of the lists <3 to see all the various top three from our writers and the top 5's from everyone amazing 😀

Thanks! It didn’t take long to do just the waiting on information part delayed the post but it wasn’t all that bad xD I still need to check out a good amount of the fall shows<_<considering I only watched Nichijou hah and am behind on a bunch of others

I watched each and every series listed in the post except for Uta no Prince-sama and half of Tiger and Bunny. It’s very hard to choose my top five for these season. The ones that I enjoyed watching would be Kami-Memo and Usagi Drop.

Yeah I never ever touched that 1000 thing lolol not my thing, Tiger and Bunny amazing! So glad I picked it up after dropping it the first time. Memo and Usagi were great! I loved that final episode for Memo made me hate Alice a bit less….

You know, i pretty much agree with all of you (except for that yaoi stuff…), we all have such brilliant tastes. I’ve been kinda wondering though, did no one ever give Fairy Tail a chance? it’s so much fun, i just started watching it now :3 anime is so much better when u dont have to wait every weekend for an episode XD

Oh, did Fairy Tail finally finish? It probably never crosses anyone’s mind to add it in their top choices because it has been running so long. I know a few people here follow the anime considering MetaJump posts

My favorite from this summer was Usagi Drop and I’m happy that so many of you guys liked it, because it is a series I personally would recommend to anyone, anime fan or not! Other than that, I also liked Mayo Chiki, which was a surprise to me, considering the plot haha. And last but not least steins[;]gate!

I see half of y’all cheated by selecting Mawaru Penguindrum, even though it didn’t finish in Summer season. 😛

My top three for shows that completed in Summer 2011:
1. Steins;Gate (I am compelled to select this to keep this world-line intact).
2. Ikoku Meiro no Crossée (No. NOT Bunny Drop. Yune could kick Rin’s ass in a cuteness battle).
3. Blood-C (I had a good time watching this show. It was pretty damned messed up, but that was part of its charm).

[…] Like usual, we did another team poll of our Top 5 anime that ended in Winter season. resulting in a mix of one and two cour series. Our honourable mentions to make a top 10 includes: Rinne no Lagrange, Inu x Boku SS, Another, Persona 4 and Gintama. I hope you enjoyed this post and from below let us know your own top seven and reason for choosing so. Till next time, ja ne~ […]